While I am certainly no longer a young adult, I just finished the YA novel The Maze Runner by James Dashner.
The Maze Runner is the story of Thomas, a teenager who wakes up to find himself in a slowly rising elevator, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. When the elevator stops, he enters his new home, the Glade, and meets his new community...all fellow teenage boys with no recollection of their lives before coming to the Glade.
The Glade is a self-sufficient community surrounded by towering stone walls -- they have a small farm where they can grow fruits and vegetables, they have cows/pigs/chickens for fresh meat and milk, and everyone has a job to keep the Glade running.
But what lies outside of the massive stone walls? An enormous maze, with miles of pathways and patterns that change every night. Oh, and the maze is filled with disgusting, horrific, deadly creatures called Grievers. Yuck.
Thomas quickly adapts to his new life, and even becomes a Runner -- charged with the responsibility of mapping out the maze every day and keeping track of what has changed on a daily basis. And making sure to be back in the Glade every night before the maze doors close and the Grievers come out to play.
I won't give away the ending or any of Thomas' background information to any potential readers. This is supposedly the first in a trilogy of books...not sure I'll follow through and finish up the story. I just wasn't all that interested until the last 15 pages or so, when for me, the story actually started moving.
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